


Handle With Care

by Casstea



Series: Lava and Glass [1]
Category: James Bond (Craig movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Magical Realism, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-02
Updated: 2013-04-02
Packaged: 2017-12-07 06:55:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/745597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Casstea/pseuds/Casstea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some people are quite literally made of Glass.</p><p>(Q was a Glass Type. James was a Lava. They shouldn't really be together but who cares about what society says anyway).</p>
            </blockquote>





	Handle With Care

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: This is based off the [very](http://rerumfragmenta.tumblr.com/post/46620362974/companion-of-x) [awesome](http://rerumfragmenta.tumblr.com/post/46539913520/companion-of-x) [artwork](http://rerumfragmenta.tumblr.com/post/46770310426/this-is-the-livestream-result-d-thanks-to) by Rum. Special thanks to the 00Q bb chat crew - Play, Entangled, Rum, & Kelli, for all pitching in the with the discussion with the wider worldbuilding on this. I hope I've done it justice!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own James Bond, this is written for fun and not for profit.

Q’s fingers tapped against the desk, the sound echoing through the empty office. The rest of Q branch had gone home, but Q wanted to finish the designs for James’ new gun. The handle had to resist the temperature of James’ body, especially when he was in high stress situations. It wouldn’t do for James to find that his gun had just melted in his hands when he concentrated.

Q picked up his teacup, peering into the bottom unhappily. He had designed this mug himself, specially protected to keep the temperature of his tea away from his hands. It was a curious aspect of his physiology that he could consume hot liquids, but holding them in his hands would mould his fingers. He had made that mistake once, it had nearly taken three days to mould his fingers back into shape from the indentations of the mug.

 _More caffeine,_ Q thought, _definitely more caffeine._

He stood up slowly. It was clear that he hadn’t got enough sleep recently, both of his hands were totally transparent along with a good portion of his chest around his ribs. The physical aspects of his typology didn’t show unless under extreme emotion, or exhaustion.

 _More caffeine_.

Q looked around the empty Q branch. It was totally quiet at night, apart from the gentle hum of the servers in the background. Most of the other members of Q branch were the same type as Q - sulphur, or had sulphur as one of their sub-types. There was only one fire type in the entire department, and she worked in the RnD division.

Typical of a fire type.

Q tapped his fingers along the side as he slowly made his way to the small kitchen that one of his second in commands, Jazz, had set up after one of the longer shifts. He had to be careful when he was like this, his glass-form was more fragile than his normal human skin.

“Hey,”

Q jumped at the voice, almost dropping his mug. Eve stood in the doorway, clutching her usual pile of papers. Her face was drawn too, he could see the lines where her skin flickered in the light, the membrane becoming the transparent liquid of her water base.

“You okay?” Eve peered around the empty Q branch, looking to see if anyone else was there.

“Yeh,” Q’s smile was taught.

“He’ll be home soon,” Eve replied, a pitying smile crossing her face. This mission had been hard on everyone, no one had expected for the terrorists to start increasing the rate they were killing the hostages.

“I hope so,” Q replied.

x-x-x

From the notes of Dr. Bethany Chester (type - Glass ( _Sulphur Hydride)_

_Here I have recorded the four base types (and their common names). These are not all of the names, and many commonly used are not recorded here for sake of brevity. However, as you will note, many of them follow a pattern surrounding either the physical or mental associations with each element._

_Fire -_ (Common Names: Lava ( _when crossed with mercury type - see below)_ , Red, Pyro, Flame ( _nb - only in intimate situations)_ )

 _Water -_ (Common Names: Nyad, Hydros ( _out of use)_ , Cryo, River)

 _Earth -_ (Common Names: Dryad, Barkie, Green-leaf, Gaia _(female only)_ )

 _Air -_ (Common Names: Spirit, Ghost, Spectr(a) ( _depending on gender usage),_ Jiin)

_There are two sub-types, which can attach themselves to any base type. These two subtypes have been rarely found, and present more instability in the individual depending on their base type. There are a number of urban myths surrounding the personality changes in individuals who have a sub-type, but I have not found any of these to be founded on truth._

_Mercury -_ (NB- Mercury has only been found as a secondary type to Fire or Earth. The reason for this is unknown)

-          When mixed with _Fire_ \- common names include - Lava, Pyro ( _thought to be an incorrect use of the word pyroclastic  stemming from the pyroclastic flow which accompanies an eruption from a volcano),_ Flare

-          When mixed with _Wood -_ common names include - Charcoal, Ash, Smoker

 _Sulphur_ (Sulphur is mainly found combined with either _Water,_ or an _Air_ type. There was one recorded combination between Sulphur and Fire in 1569 but there is no detail as to the effects on the individual)

-          When mixed with _Water_ \- Common names include - Glass, Crystal , Silian _(stemming from the manufacturing process of glass which involves silicon dioxide)_

-          When mixed with _Air -_ Common names include - Oxide ( _Stemming from the oxidation process - a misuse of the technical chemical term),_ Yellow-Eyes ( _the individuals with this mixture have yellow-tinted eyes)_

x-x-x

“How was it?” Q asked as James sauntered back into Q branch. He clicked off _The Bethany Chester Blog,_ back to the main screen of Q branch. Bethany had been an old friend of Q’s back in university, and she had asked Q a favour to increase the site security after a number of hacks. He had been mildly distracted by her research notes which she had begun publishing online. She had quite a following it seemed, enough to garner attention from a set of pretty vicious hackers.

“Fine,” James remarked blandly. Some said that Lavas were arrogant, rough, and brutal. Q had thought that originally, when he had first met James in the National Gallery.

Q, however, now knew otherwise. There were certain advantages of being the boyfriend of 007, and one of them was seeing the tender side of the legendary agent.

Q raised an eyebrow.

“Fine,” James repeated, squaring his shoulders. There was something up, but Q wouldn’t get a reply now. He could see the tips of James’ fingers glow slightly, a dull red colour seeping through the pink. James, like all fire-types, had to get specialised clothing to ensure that the material didn’t disintegrate with their body temperature.

Not that Q would mind James’ clothes sporadically bursting into smoke when he got angry. James was _hot_ when was angry, both literally and metaphorically.

“M wants to see you,” Q said, as a few of the other Q branch workers turned to see their boss and 007 simply staring at each other in the middle of the room.

“Wish me luck,” James said. His words were clipped, haunted with the horrors he had seen. He hated losing, and losing badly.

“I will,” Q smiled.

x-x-x

“How was M?” Q asked, sitting quietly next to James. He was still emotional, Q didn’t need to be a Glass to feel the intense heat radiating off James.

“Bad,” James said, not taking his gaze of the wall opposite. The silence filled the void between them. He couldn’t comfort James, not physically, not when he was like this. It was the one sure way to end up in the A&E of the hospital in mere minutes and Q didn’t want to start his holiday _there._ It would just be another list of lectures on how _irresponsible_ he was for dating a Lava, and why couldn’t he just date someone of his own typology.

Q bit his lip. His fingers had begun to turn to Glass, scattering the dim light around the room. James had once told Q that he shone like a diamond, to which Q had remarked that diamonds didn’t shine, they reflected the light through the angles in their facets.

“You couldn’t have-” Q was cut off when James growled irritably.

“ _Children,_ Q, _children,_ ” James’s voice wad dark with anger.

“I saw the intel-”

“But you weren’t there,”

“You think I needed to be?” Q remarked, his glass form shooting up his forearm, “I could hear everything.”

“I couldn’t save them,” James said. He turned to face Q, his eyes brimming with tears, “you would have thought I would have got used to this by now-”

“You’re human,” Q said, “or rock, it depends on what mood you’re in.”

James’ mouth turned up in a small smile at the joke. Good, he wasn’t totally lost in his emotions, that would take weeks for him to get out of the dark thought pattern James would trap himself into.

“I’m sorry,” James smiled apologetically, reaching out towards Q. Q backed away on instinct. He could feel part of his collar bone turning into Glass, the chilling sensation spreading along his cheek and around his eyes.

“What?” James asked, before he noticed his hand. The skin was blackened and crackled with red lines, radiating so much heat it almost made Q throw up.

“Shit,” James swore, hand turning into a fist. Q tried to focus on his breathing, forcing the Glass form back inside him like he had been taught in school. A safety precaution he had been told, to ensure that no-one was able to take advantage of his weaker form.

“My turn to apologise,” Q said, his frustration lacing his voice, “you ever regret dating a Glass?”

“Never,” James replied, as he too fought back his Lava form, “why would I want to date who society says I should date?”

“James Bond, ruining social structures since forever,” Q smirked.

“I would blow them up if you would make me an exploding pen,”

“Maybe for your birthday,”

x-x-x

From the notes of Dr. Bethany Chester (type - Glass ( _Sulphur Hydride)_

Comment (Anonymous) - Have you ever heard of a Glass dating a Lava type?

_Reply (12:30) I know one person in this situation. Quite frankly they are the most sickly sweet couple in the universe._

Comment (Anonymous) (12:32) - We are not sickly sweet.

_Reply (12:35) - Yeh right. See you next week for drinks. 9 sharp._

x-x-x

“You alright?” James asked, sliding his arms around Q. James had only been home for two weeks, extended leave after the last mission, and his protective side was showing. It had taken Q weeks when they had first been dating for him to trust James. All of his life his trust in people had been tempered by his typology, he couldn’t afford to be emotional around anyone who would take advantage of his more fragile self. He had one bad experience and he didn’t really want to repeat it.

“Fine,” Q twisted around in James’ grip, smiling up at him. He sometimes wondered just how he had managed to be in a relationship with him.

“You’re thinking,”

“Just admiring your beauty,” Q leant up and pressed a kiss to James’ lips, “what shall we do today?”

“Walk in the park?” James asked, “it’s one of the few sunny days in the year,”

“So romantic,” Q smiled as James rolled his eyes. He was such an easy target to tease, “we’ve got to go to Beth’s thing later,”

“How much did she pay you?”

“I can socialise outside MI6 you know,”

“I thought all you Q branch types just appeared out of the ground or something,” James joked.

“Sorry to disappoint,” Q said, “it starts at nine,”

“Black tie?”

“You just want to make me look like a penguin again,” Q frowned at James’ delighted smile.

“You make a good penguin,”

“I’ll add it to the list of potential Halloween characters,” Q replied, “now what are we going to do about today?”

“It would be a shame to spend the entire day indoors,” James replied. There was a twinkle of mischief in his eye as he threaded his fingers through Q’s own. Q could feel the heat radiating off James from his typology, but he had his emotions under control, at a temperature which would not hurt Q.

“Depends what we’re doing,” Q grinned. His lips flashed clear as he kissed James again, pulling the other man closer.

A walk in the park was far too normal anyway. 


End file.
